Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1950)

BULLETIN Volume 18, Number 1 January 2, 1950 An* ws and Opinion MYERS WARNS AGAINST OVERCONFIDENCE IN TAX FIGHT The might of a united motion picture industry became apparent last week as COMPO's taxation and legislation committee flexed its muscles preparatory to its bout with the House Ways and Means Committee for elimination of the Federal Admissions Tax. So impressive was the mobilization of the COMPO committee's plan to fight the tax that chairman Abram F. Myers had to issue a warning against overconfidence last week. "Much as I relish the enthusiasm of industry members," Myers declared, "I feel I should warn them that it is not all over but the shouting. The legislative mill grinds slowly and anything can happen during the process. The pending Forand Bill which would reduce some excises but not the admission tax, and the proposed Dingell Bill which would reduce only the taxes on transportation and communications, warn us that if we relax our efforts even a little bit we may be left out in the cold." Joins Nafl Committee COMPO's alignment with the recently organized National Committee for Repeal of Wartime Taxes served notice that it would leave no stone unturned to get the tax repealed this year. The action was also seen as a means of safeguarding the film industry's interest within the nationwide all-trade committee, and marks the first time the motion picture business has joined an inter-trade group for legislative purposes. The MPAA's Eric Johnston will serve as a vice-chairman of the National Committee. Other industry representatives will be Myers, Nicholas M. Schenck bpyros Skouras, Leonard Goldenson Harry M. Warner, Oscar Doob and Donald Henderson. The Committee is headed by Beardsley Ruml, Leon Henderson and other economy experts 1950 Decides P°intir>g out that economists regard 1950 as the year of decision for war taxes, Myers warned that "if the wartime excise taxes are not repealed by the present Congress, they may never be repealed in our time." He presented a three-pronged plan for the industry's campaign against the Federal admissions tax: —Direct presentation of the industry's case to Congress through the COMPO tax committee. —Mobilization of the nation's theatre screens, movie personnel, exchanges and studios on both national and local levels through exhibitor-distributor committees. —Presentation of the industry's case to the public so that local authorities will not step in to replace the Federal tax with city and state levies. The committee's activities, Myers reported will receive stopgap financing for its present work through voluntary contributions to be repaid when the actual financing machinery begins operation CHAIRMAN MYERS "Legislative Mill Grinds Slowly" following approval of the organizational setup by constituent units. Myers pointed out that expenses presently will b? moderate. All individual services, except those of clerical personnel, will be contributed. WARNERS RUSHING DECREE TO BEAT JAN. 17 TRIAL DATE Carrying its Board of Directors' blessing, Warner Bros, was pushing all efforts to conclude a consent agreement with the Government before the trial resumption on Jan. 17 in the industry anti-vrust case. That negotiations were well beyond the formative stage was implicit in the official release from the company that negotiations were progressing along the lines set up by the RKO and Paramount consent decrees, i.e., division of the company into two separate corporations. The contemplated consent agreement was more like the RKO decree in which all stockholders except principal stockholder Howard Hughes received a share in each of the new companies in exchange for each share they held in the old company. Hughes was required to sell his interest in either one or the other since he had a controlling interest. The three Warner brothers, Harry M., Albert, and Jack L., are in the same position, and, consequently, are currently negotiating for the sale of the stock which they will receive in the proposed new theatre corporation. The Justice Department demands thai the Warners "shall either trustee their shares in one or the other corporation in such a way as to lose all voting rights, or shall dispose of their stock in one or the other corporation to a purchaser who shall agree to hold such stock for a period of time to be approved by the Department." Although the principal prospective buyer of the Warners' 1,800,000 shares is Lehman Bros., a Wall Street investment house, several other groups were showing an interest in the theatre chain. It was expected that the price for the Warner shares would approximate $20,000,000. Reportedly, the details of divorcement have been agreed upon. Current negotiations concern which theatres will have to be divested in order to open "closed" towns and to restore competition. PARAMOUNT COMPLETES SPLIT; BALABAN, GOLDSTEIN NAMED Like an amoeba. Paramount Pictures Inc. split in two last Saturday. From one combined production-distribution-exhibition company, two completely autonomous corporations emerged, Paramount Pictures Corp., and United Paramount Theatres, Inc. The company had met its divorcement deadline right on schedule. The new production-distribution company, as expected, elected the same officers as had governed the old company; Chairman of the board Adolph Zukor, executive committee chairman Stanton Griffis, president Barney Balaban, vicepresidents Y. Frank Freeman, Henry Ginsberg, Austin C. Keough and Paul Raibourn; treasurer Fred Mohrhardt, and assistant secretaries Russell Holman, Jacob H. Karp and Louis A. Novins. Henry Ginsberg continued as vice-president and general manager of studio operations and Y. Frank Freeman, vice-president at the West Coast studio. Paramount International Films, Inc., maintained George Weltner as its president. The only change was formation of a wholly-owned subsidiary, Paramount Film Distributing Corp., with Alfred W. Schwalberg as president. The latter had formerly held the post of vice-president and general sales manager. All of the directors were renamed with the exception of those who went over to the theatre organization. In addition, Raibourn, Weltner and Mohrhardt were elected to the board. The new United Paramount Theatres also ran true to expectations. Leonard Goldenson became president; Walter Gross, vice-president and general counsel; Robert H. O'Brien, secretary-treasurer; Si Siegle, comptroller, and J. L. (Continued on Next Page) REVIEWS in this Issue Twelve O'clock High 13 Sands nl Iwo lima 13 Tell ll to the Judge 13 Man On the Eiffel Tower 1 1 Ambush 14 Blondle Hits the Jackpol U Side Street 16